 Shepard |  Eliely |  Havers |
-----------------------------
1 2 3 4 total
Creighton 14 30 24 12 80
NEBRASKA 15 13 14 22 64
----------------------------- | ||
Fifth-year senior Marissa Janning, the 2014 BIG EAST Player of the Year, hit a career high seven threes on her way to a team-high 22 points for the Jays.
Nebraska sophomore forward Jessica Shepard produced her sixth double-double of the year with 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Huskers, who slipped to 4-7 on the season. Creighton, the preseason pick to win the BIG EAST Conference, improved to 5-4.
Janning hit 7-of-13 shots from the floor for CU, including 7-of-11 threes. She also dished out nine assists. She led four Jays in double figures, including 16 points from sophomore Audrey Faber, who hit 3-of-8 threes. The Jays also got 11 points from Lincoln native Lauren Works, who hit 3-of-7 threes, and 10 points and seven assists from Sydney Lamberty.
Shepard was the only Husker who managed double figures, but Nicea Eliely produced six points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Allie Havers added six points and six boards, while Darrien Washington contributed six points and four boards off the bench.
As a team, Nebraska hit 37.3 percent (22-59) of its shots from the field, including just 3-of-16 threes (.188). The Huskers hit 17-of-25 free throws (.680), while outrebounding the Jays 43-37.
Creighton hit 41.9 percent (26-62) of its shots, including 15-of-38 threes (.395). The 15 threes by the Jays matched the 15 triples hit by Colorado on Feb. 20, 2010. The Jays also knocked down 13-of-18 free throws and won the turnover battle 18-12.
Nebraska led Creighton 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, but the Bluejays outscored the Huskers 30-13 in the second quarter to take a 16-point halftime lead and never looked back. The Jays took their largest lead at 68-42 off Janning's seventh three-pointer with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
Shepard led the Huskers with 11 points and four rebounds, despite hitting just 2-of-10 first-half shots from the field. Janning led Creighton with 13 points, including 10 second-quarter points from 2014 Big East Player of the Year.
The Huskers took a 15-14 lead to the second quarter after a back-and-forth first quarter. NU fell behind by as many as four points at 8-4 after back-to-back three-pointers by Creighton with six minutes left. But the Huskers responded with a 6-0 run and eventually claimed a pair of three-point leads before settling for a one-point lead at the end of the quarter.
The Big Red quickly pushed the lead back to three at 17-14 on a shot by Esther Ramacieri with 9:35 left in the half, before five straight points from Creighton to take a 19-17 lead with nine minutes left. Shepard tied the game at 19 with a pair of free throws with 8:23 left.
Creighton then erupted on an 8-0 run that started with a three-pointer by Janning and capped by a four-point play by Jaylyn Agnew, who started with her steal at halfcourt that she completed with a layup and a flagrant foul by Jasmine Cincore.
Eliely stopped the run with a steal and a layup of her own, before Creighton took its first double-digit lead at 33-21 with six straight points capped by a layup from Works.
Creighton continued to push the lead, extending it to 19 points at 44-25 with two three pointers from Janning and two more from Faber in the final three minutes of the half. Shepard stopped the bleeding for the Huskers with her buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the first half.
The Huskers conclude non-conference play on Wednesday when they take on No. 1 UConn in Lincoln. Tip-off between Nebraska and the four-time defending NCAA Champion Huskies is set for Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com.